I was in the very last row (40) and one of the last to leave the plane. As I walked and made friends with a Minnesota couple headed to Madrid, I logged onto London wifi. There it was! My visa had been approved. I kept in mind I was in England and refrained from jumping up and down squealing in excitement. I didn't need to take any chances (you never want to be the person that celebrates the touchdown only to have it penalized, closely reviewed, and then taken away). The woman from MN was less interested in my visa and more interested in the fact that Gavin Rossdale had been on our plane (Cool but this would have been much more meaningful if I was still in high school. Although, I did listen to Sixteen Stone after learning this.).
I made it to the front of the customs line and proudly showed my e-visa on my phone to the lady. She immediately began chastising me for not having a printed out copy and then went on to fuss at me for likely not having a printed copy of anything for my trip. After the scolding, she had me email the visa to her and printed two copies. I WAS GOING TO INDIA!!!
I had over 4 hours to spare so I spent time stretching, drinking tea and eating cashews in the Aspire Lounge which was right near my gate. I met a man from VA who was also headed to Madrid. He was kind enough to charge my phone.
The food in the lounge was not very appetizing so I went to a miso soup place also right near the gate. I figured that was also healthier than what I would get on the plane.
When it was time to board the woman checking me in told me I had to check my bag because it was a full flight. It was odd that the number of people waiting to board would barely fill a prop plane. I pleaded with her to let me keep it and she finally and very reluctantly agreed telling me that I was likely inconveniencing other passengers. Boarding went speedily that they closed the doors and I looked around to an almost empty cabin. Almost every person had a whole row to themselves. In an act of extreme defiance, I reopened the overhead bin and put my person item in there as well. Take that lady at the gate! If only had something else to put in the completely empty bin directly across from mine. After this show of strength and power I pictured a glorious take off as the forlorn gate woman looked on. Instead the held the plane for quite some time for 1 more passenger, and finally we were off.
Never the less, in the luxury of my whole row I again slept most of the flight (on my arrival, I explained my excitement about this, only to be asked "Whole row?" So for those of you who only fly business or first class, just so you know having a whole row is like winning in a lottery scratch off ticket (It is extremely exciting and will be recounted numerous times even though it's global impact is minimal).
Customs was uneventful. This was partially due to the fact that I kept the victory dance that gyrated in the bubble over my head completely to myself. The guy barely looked at my visa. He handed it back to me pretty quickly unimpressed with its "super urgency". Oh well, you can't win them all. I was here! I walked out the exit, still in disbelief that I had made it, and immediately saw my name on a sign (which was comforting at 1 in the morning). I was escorted to a car where the driver gave me a towel with essential oils, a bottle of water, a charging cord to my iPhone, and access to the car's wifi. Wow! When did I become fancy?
Nadia was still up when I checked in at the hotel and our room's were close by so I went for a visit. It is then that in one of the most impressive cases of FOMO ever documented Nadeem was FaceTimeing us within 5 min of my arrival to her room.
After a shower that was very much like a deep tissue massage (They have water pressure that should be nominated for a spa award, if there was such a thing), I went quickly to sleep.
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